Legal marijuana supporters file signatures for ballot question

BOSTON — Supporters of a proposal that could make Massachusetts the fifth U.S. state to legalize the recreational use of marijuana said they met a Wednesday deadline to submit voter signatures to qualify for the November ballot.

Sponsors of three other proposed ballot questions also said they had collected more than enough signatures required to proceed.

Jim Borghesani, spokesman for the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, said Wednesday that the group turned in more than 25,000 signatures to city and town clerks around the state ahead of a 5 p.m. deadline.

Only 10,792 certified signatures are required at this stage of the process, but sponsors of ballot initiatives typically try to gather many more as a hedge against signatures that are disqualified for various reasons.

The question proposes as many as 75 retail marijuana stores in the state in the first year, with more after that. People 21 and over would be allowed to buy or grow up to an ounce of pot, including edibles like pit brownies.

"There was a study done several weeks ago that indicated marijuana commerce could be as much as $1 billion," marijuana legalization campaign manager Will Luzier said.

The drug, which is currently available medically in Massachusetts, is already legalized for recreational use in Washington, Colorado, Oregon and Alaska.

State Senator Jason Lewis from Winchester is the chairman of an organization fighting against the ballot initiative.

He was one of several local politicians to travel to Colorado earlier this year to see what the industry looks like after legalization.

One of his concerns is that the proposed 12 percent tax rate wouldn't be enough.

“There’s many flaws with the ballot question including the fact that the tax rate proposed is so slow that it's unlikely to even cover all the regulatory, enforcement, public health costs, that have be incurred by the state as well as all the cities and towns,” he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Cox Media Group